So this is a very famous Tempura restaurant, one of the most famous in fact, in Tokyo. I had a few restaurants I wanted to try but reservations are notoriously hard to get, even harder if you’re not local. Tempura Kondo was kind enough to allow foreign direct bookings and I got my seats by calling them straight. I had to call them a day before to confirm, which I did.

The restaurant is in a building off the main street of Ginza, which is a high end street in Tokyo. You need sharp eyes and recognition of the words to spot the right building. Take an elevator up and you’ll find the place. Restaurants of such fame do not need walk in customers at all, so a hidden location like this works fine.

They have 3 menus and I went for the middle one, 楓 kaede -¥‎14,000. This comes with 2 appetizers, tempura course and fruits. The lower menu 藤 -¥‎11,000 doesn’t have appetisers and the higher 蓬 -¥‎18,000-comes with additional sashimi dish.

For lunch, prices are lower.

I like how they put their ingredients on display, visible to customers.

First appetiser

Second appetiser

I liked the anglrer fish liver most. The last time I had angler fish was in Mito City, Ibaraki.

Getting started with the tempura course.

Prawn head

First prawn

Second prawn

Asparagus

Green pepper

Kisu fish

For me, I actually prefer fish to prawn for tempura.

Egg plant

Shiitake mushrom

Megochi – big eye flathead fish

This was good. A typical fish used for tempura.

Lotus root

Whole onion

Anago

And finally the last item – Kakiage

You can choose how your last rice dish is served – ten-don style or ten-cha style.

Tempura Kondo
9F, Sakaguchi Bldg, 5-5-13 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan